Grover Cleveland
March 18, 1837 - June 24, 1908
Political party: Democrat
First Term: March 4, 1885 - March 3, 1889
Second Term: 4, 1893 - March 3, 1897 (2 terms)
First Term Vice President: Thomas Andrews Hendricks
Second Term Vice President: Adlai Ewing Stevenson
Grover Cleveland is the only president to serve two non consecutive terms, being both the 22nd and 24th president. Cleveland did a pretty good job during his presidency, and deserves a B if graded. He earns a B because of his dedication to the Federal treasury and his work towards stabilizing the dollar, his excellent strives in foreign affairs, and his tariff reforms.
Cleveland’s goals were different for his different years in office. During his first presidency, Cleveland immediately made it a priority to protect the rights of the people, which he announced in his inaugural address. He also wanted to help the defend the rights of the middle class people, and he stood true to his goals, passing the Interstate Commerce Act and lowering the tariffs. Cleveland’s goals during his second presidency were drastically different during his second presidency. He planned to lower the tariffs and utilize the Gold Standard, which he lived up to through repealing the Sherman Silver Act and borrowing 65 million dollars worth of gold from banker J.P. Morgan.
Cleveland’s relationship with Congress during his first term wasn’t great, as he amply utilized his power of the veto against the highly Republican Congress. The first thing that they disagreed upon were on Pensions, as he vetoed a bill trying to create a Pensions Bureau. Then, he vetoed the well known Texas-seed bill of 1887 which was trying to help the seed deprived Texas out with $10,000 for seeds. Cleveland claimed that this was overextending the government. Cleveland enjoyed an improved relationship with Congress during his second term. Vetoes weren’t as commonly used as before and the only major dispute was over the annexation of Hawaii which Cleveland believed was wrong.
greatest feat during either of his presidencies was his decision to repeal the Sherman Silver Act. During the terrible economic depression of 1893 the U.S. treasury was being drained of it’s gold because people could literally trade their less valuable silver for the same amount of gold, which was draining the US treasury. Cleveland saw this as a huge problem and decisively fixed it by repealing the Sherman Silver Act which was nothing short of an “Epic Fail”. He also chose to borrow $65 million from J.P. Morgan in gold because the treasury supply had fallen so low that he had no choice but to stimulate it with the loan, and this helped pull us out of the depression. These efforts helped restore the US economy, making them Cleveland’s greatest achievements.
Although it was not his fault, the Panic of 1893 was Cleveland’s biggest mistake. The fact that there was a recession hurt his legacy. He did a do a good job restoring economy though, but many Americans suffered during the Panic of 1893. Another less significant mistake was Cleveland’s passage of the Scott Act, which added on to the Chinese Exclusion Act, prohibiting Chinese who left the country to ever return. This act wasn’t significant, but it was racist and can easily be frowned upon.
Cleveland was pretty significant to future generations. One of his significant contributions was his lowering of tariffs. He also sponsored new economic programs. One could say that his decision in the Texas Seed Act was significant because he didn’t want to overextend the government. Cleveland’s true legacy lies in the repealing of the Sherman Silver Act. It set us on the Gold Standard and eventually led to our standard today, where we aren’t on any standard. This was Cleveland’s greatest footprint in the path of American history.
Cleveland was a pretty good president. He did a good job repealing the Sherman Silver Act, and helping restore the economy from the Panic of 1893. He also worked for the common people, lowering tariffs and fighting corruption, and thus deserves a B for his presidency.
Grover Cleveland
March 18, 1837 - June 24, 1908
Political party: Democrat
First Term: March 4, 1885 - March 3, 1889
Second Term: 4, 1893 - March 3, 1897 (2 terms)
First Term Vice President: Thomas Andrews Hendricks
Second Term Vice President: Adlai Ewing Stevenson
Grover Cleveland is the only president to serve two non consecutive terms, being both the 22nd and 24th president. Cleveland did a pretty good job during his presidency, and deserves a B if graded. He earns a B because of his dedication to the Federal treasury and his work towards stabilizing the dollar, his excellent strives in foreign affairs, and his tariff reforms.
Cleveland’s goals were different for his different years in office. During his first presidency, Cleveland immediately made it a priority to protect the rights of the people, which he announced in his inaugural address. He also wanted to help the defend the rights of the middle class people, and he stood true to his goals, passing the Interstate Commerce Act and lowering the tariffs. Cleveland’s goals during his second presidency were drastically different during his second presidency. He planned to lower the tariffs and utilize the Gold Standard, which he lived up to through repealing the Sherman Silver Act and borrowing 65 million dollars worth of gold from banker J.P. Morgan.
Cleveland’s relationship with Congress during his first term wasn’t great, as he amply utilized his power of the veto against the highly Republican Congress. The first thing that they disagreed upon were on Pensions, as he vetoed a bill trying to create a Pensions Bureau. Then, he vetoed the well known Texas-seed bill of 1887 which was trying to help the seed deprived Texas out with $10,000 for seeds. Cleveland claimed that this was overextending the government. Cleveland enjoyed an improved relationship with Congress during his second term. Vetoes weren’t as commonly used as before and the only major dispute was over the annexation of Hawaii which Cleveland believed was wrong.
greatest feat during either of his presidencies was his decision to repeal the Sherman Silver Act. During the terrible economic depression of 1893 the U.S. treasury was being drained of it’s gold because people could literally trade their less valuable silver for the same amount of gold, which was draining the US treasury. Cleveland saw this as a huge problem and decisively fixed it by repealing the Sherman Silver Act which was nothing short of an “Epic Fail”. He also chose to borrow $65 million from J.P. Morgan in gold because the treasury supply had fallen so low that he had no choice but to stimulate it with the loan, and this helped pull us out of the depression. These efforts helped restore the US economy, making them Cleveland’s greatest achievements.
Although it was not his fault, the Panic of 1893 was Cleveland’s biggest mistake. The fact that there was a recession hurt his legacy. He did a do a good job restoring economy though, but many Americans suffered during the Panic of 1893. Another less significant mistake was Cleveland’s passage of the Scott Act, which added on to the Chinese Exclusion Act, prohibiting Chinese who left the country to ever return. This act wasn’t significant, but it was racist and can easily be frowned upon.
Cleveland was pretty significant to future generations. One of his significant contributions was his lowering of tariffs. He also sponsored new economic programs. One could say that his decision in the Texas Seed Act was significant because he didn’t want to overextend the government. Cleveland’s true legacy lies in the repealing of the Sherman Silver Act. It set us on the Gold Standard and eventually led to our standard today, where we aren’t on any standard. This was Cleveland’s greatest footprint in the path of American history.
Cleveland was a pretty good president. He did a good job repealing the Sherman Silver Act, and helping restore the economy from the Panic of 1893. He also worked for the common people, lowering tariffs and fighting corruption, and thus deserves a B for his presidency.
Works Cited
Degregorio, William A. The Complete Book of US Presidents. Fort Lee: Barricade Books, 2005. Print.
"Gold standard -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 20 Nov. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard>.
"Grover Cleveland |." The White House. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/grovercleveland24>.
"Grover Cleveland -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Cleveland>.
"Grover Cleveland." NNDB: Tracking the entire world. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. <http://www.nndb.com/people/433/000026355/>.
"POTUS." Internet Public Library:. Web. 20 Nov. 2009. <http://www.ipl.org/div/potus/gcleveland.html>.